Law Enforcement Officers Texas

Five sheriff's deputies have been fired after being indicted for alleged abuses of inmates in a "boot camp." The five men, indicted by a Harris County grand jury on Tuesday, were accused of civil rights violations. They allegedly choked, kicked and beat inmates with their fists and with broomsticks, prosecutor Don Smyth said.

Five sheriff's deputies have been fired after being indicted for alleged abuses of inmates in a "boot camp." The five men, indicted by a Harris County grand jury on Tuesday, were accused of civil rights violations. They allegedly choked, kicked and beat inmates with their fists and with broomsticks, prosecutor Don Smyth said.

House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), intervening on behalf of the Mexican government, has succeeded in killing congressional efforts to penalize Mexico for failing to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, congressional officials said Friday. Wright's action drew sharp criticism from Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.), who led an effort in the Senate to impose sanctions on Mexico.

Sion Campbell Hawthorne, killed in a gun battle with police and the prime suspect in a $100,000 theft of heavy construction equipment, had been driving a stolen motor home and was wanted for an unrelated theft in Texas, law enforcement officers in Texas and California said Thursday. The 27-foot, 1986 Allegro motor home in Hawthorne's possession was reported stolen from Orange County, Tex., on June 13, according to authorities there.

African American and Latino drivers throughout Texas are more likely than whites to be pulled over and searched by police, according to a study released Tuesday. Commissioned by four minority advocacy groups, the study used data provided by 413 Texas law-enforcement agencies and examined millions of "encounters" between police officers and drivers in 2002. The study found that three out of every four law enforcement agencies pulled over blacks and Latinos at higher rates than whites.